At NPSC we know that one of the best ways to keep your brain healthy is to learn new things. Unfortunately, with all of the information available to us, it can feel almost impossible to find the time to sift through the web to find the gems.

So, we’ve decided to do it for you! Every Friday, you can find five new articles or videos from the week that will stretch your mind, fuel your spirit, and feed your brain.

“The Unheralded Pioneers of 19th-Century America Were Free African-American Families” by Lorraine Boissoneault, smithsonianmag.com

“In her new book, ‘The Bone and Sinew of the Land’, historian Anna-Lisa Cox explores the mostly ignored story of the free black people who first moved West.”

“Librarian Nancy Pearl Picks 7 Books For Summer Reading” by Nancy Pearl, npr.org

“This year’s picks include mysteries, nonfiction and a fantasy story for young readers.”

“The Neuroscientist in the Art Museum” by Jackie Mansky, smithsonianmag.com

“At Massachusetts’s Peabody Essex Museum, Tedi Asher is using neuroscience research to create impactful art experiences.”

“Stephen Hawking’s Final Message to Humankind” by Ned Dymoke, bigthink.com

“The message ‘Seize the moment… It can be done’ is so needed, so necessary, so acutely accurate in these dark times, that it’s hard to listen to the whole thing without tearing up a little.”

“Overlooked No More: Fannie Farmer, Modern Cookery’s Pioneer” by Julia Moskin, nytimes.com

“She brought a scientific approach to cooking, taught countless women marketable skills and wrote a cookbook that defined American food for the 20th century.”

At NPSC we know that one of the best ways to keep your brain healthy is to learn new things. Unfortunately, with all of the information available to us, it can feel almost impossible to find the time to sift through the web to find the gems.

So, we’ve decided to do it for you! Every Friday, you can find five new articles or videos from the week that will stretch your mind, fuel your spirit, and feed your brain.

“What if Napoleon Hadn’t Lost Europe and Other Questions of Alternate History” by Lorraine Boissoneault, smithsonianmag.com

“How the 200-year-old literary genre reflects changing notions of history and society”

“Why Do Stop Signs Have Eight Sides?” by mentalfloss.com

The answer might surprise you.

“How the Teddy Bear Taught Us Compassion” by Jon Mooallem, ted.com

“In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt legendarily spared the life of a black bear — and prompted a plush toy craze for so-called “teddy bears.” Writer Jon Mooallem digs into this toy story and asks us to consider how the tales we tell about wild animals have real consequences for a species’ chance of survival — and the natural world at large.”

“Errors Trigger Retraction of Study On Mediterranean Diet’s Heart Benefits” by Alison McCook, npr.org

“An anesthesiologist who taught himself statistics identified flaws in an influential study that claimed to prove the Mediterranean diet has cardiovascular benefits.”

“The Strange Case of the Missing Joyce Scholar” by Jack Hitt, nytimes.com

“Two decades ago, a renowned professor promised to produce a flawless version of one of the 20th century’s most celebrated novels: “Ulysses.” Then he disappeared.”

At NPSC we know that one of the best ways to keep your brain healthy is to learn new things. Unfortunately, with all of the information available to us, it can feel almost impossible to find the time to sift through the web to find the gems.

So, we’ve decided to do it for you! Every Friday, you can find five new articles or videos from the week that will stretch your mind, fuel your spirit, and feed your brain.

“Why Grandmothers May Hold The Key To Human Evolution” by John Poole, npr.org

“In a nutshell, humanity’s success may all be dependent on the unique way our ancestors raised their kids. Thanks, Grandma.”

“The Science of Skin Color” by Angela Koine Flynn, ted.com

“When ultraviolet sunlight hits our skin, it affects each of us differently. Depending on skin color, it’ll take only minutes of exposure to turn one person beetroot-pink, while another requires hours to experience the slightest change. What’s to account for that difference, and how did our skin come to take on so many different hues to begin with?”

“Why Is a ‘Pepper’ Different From ‘Pepper’? Blame Christopher Columbus” by Anne Ewbank, atlasobscura.com

“Black pepper and chili peppers have little in common.”

“The Woman Who Challenged the Idea that Black Communities Were Destined for Disease” by Leila McNeill, smithsonianmag.com

“A physician and activist, Rebecca J. Cole became a leading voice in medical social services.”

“Worth The Whisk: How The Woman Behind Duke’s Mayo Became A Tycoon” by Jarrett Dieterle and Maria Ribas, npr.org

“The culinary genius behind this mayo is an unlikely one: Eugenia Thomas Slade Duke of Greenville, South Carolina — a self-described housewife who became an entrepreneur and a manufacturing tycoon.”